Now Jen is on a mission to inspire and empower others through financial education so they too can enjoy the life they want to live. Jen shares her recipe for success, happiness and financial freedom via writing, blogging, speaking and coaching. As part of her commitment to community, Jen pledges her blogging profits as 0% microloans through Kiva.org to small businesses operated by working, impoverished women in developing countries.

15 years ago, my mom and I started having conversations about how she planned to handle her retirement. She’d admittedly not been very savvy about her personal finances. I was often concerned about her financial misbehavior. Deep down, I knew she was counting on someone to rescue her: either a man or me.

My mom and I would often brush the tension away with good-natured ribbing. We used to joke about how when she was broke and too old to work, my husband and I would build her an apartment in the hay loft above our horse barn, and when she became too old to climb the stairs, we’d haul her up with a hoist and pulley system. That was good for a few laughs — until she turned 59 and was diagnosed with a debilitating disease that forced her into early retirement.

She lost her business, her ability to work, her minimal home equity. With no savings set aside, she quickly became dependent on others. The stress of her illness and the burden of her financial needs ravaged the relationships between her and her boyfriend, and me and my siblings.

In her article, Emma Johnson asks difficult questions:

Will your parents’ financial decisions leave you holding the bag?

Is it ever too early to meddle in your parents’ financial affairs? Is it your responsibility to plan to care for people who are still working and able to save and invest on their own behalf? What if their financial needs compromise your lifestyle or your security? And what if your folks should have known better than to leave retirement to chance — and yet have?

Ultimately, my mom’s poor financial behavior became our burden, and while I was glad that I was able to help her, the situation caused undue stress.

Many of my coaching clients are parents raising young children, are deeply in debt, and have little or no money set aside for retirement. Yet most of these parents contribute regularly to their children’s education fund(s). While I appreciate the desire to provide their kids with a college education, I worry about their family’s future in the long run.

Take it from me — the financial burden of caring for your elderly parent(s) — ones who failed to save for their own retirement — is much more daunting than paying for your own college tuition.

So parents, please take care of YOUR financial future first. Then — and only then — contribute towards improving your children’s future. This is not selfish behavior; this is one of the most loving things you can do for your entire family.

I think it depends on what you believe got us into this economic crisis:

A) If you believe the crisis was caused by government incompetence, then all you need to do is move out of the country to find relief. (Oh yeah… but this is a global recession…)

B) If you believe it was the banks that got us into this mess and that fixing the credit crunch is going to fix the problem, then we should expect a full economic recovery in a few short weeks. Why? Because the government is throwing a ton of money at banks to loosen the flow of credit.

C) If you believe that consumer debt caused this problem, then we will have to wait for the housing and stock market bubbles to fully deflate, for our economy to reset to an affordable level, and for consumers to free themselves from their smothering burden of debt. Once these things play out, THEN consumers can AFFORD to spend again; THEN businesses can profit; THEN more jobs can be offered.

Note: This post is part of a series about how I became a millionaire. The series starts here. The most recent installment (my 30’s) is here.

Happiness Is A Choice

After exiting the growing real estate bubble by selling our home, our intention was to take a year-long travel adventure across America in a recreational vehicle. We would submit our adoption paperwork before leaving and keep our eyes peeled during our road trip for the perfect place to call our next home. Then we’d decide whether it was better to buy another home or rent. We were ecstatic about the prospect of living as vagabonds for awhile before welcoming a child into our lives.

But then, two months later, my mother was diagnosed with leukemia.

Whoa. Not only did our trip preparation come to a screeching halt, but so did my carefree and positive outlook. My mom wasn’t just family — she was one of my dearest friends. She was only 59, she’d always been extremely active and up until this point, she’d been the model of perfect health. I was completely thrown for a loop.

My mom came to live with my husband and me for much of her two-and-a-half-year-long battle with cancer. I watched helplessly as her once strong body weakened, withered and starved. I’ve never before felt such intense and prolonged pain.

I realized I had to do something to avoid going completely out of my mind with fear, grief and overwhelm. I tried all the usual things: support groups, therapy, sleep. While these things certainly helped, I discovered something even better. And it was so ridiculously simple.

During this intensely difficult time, I realized that I could be happy anyway.

How? I made it my mission to look for at least five things each day that make my heart melt, my soul sing and my smile grow. I wrote a list of five happy moments everyday. I actively searched for things to add to my list. My focus changed and in turn, so did my mood. I learned that happiness takes practice. With practice, I developed a habit of feeling happy.

At first I felt like a traitor. How could I think about happy things while my mom suffered? Was I being unfair, insensitive? Fortunately, I realized that I couldn’t be a good caregiver for my mom when I felt bad. Fortunately, I chose happiness over guilt.

My Takeaway: It isn’t circumstance that dictates whether you live a happy life; it is a matter of choice.

The morning I calculated our net worth to be north of one million dollars, we were living in a rented apartment, driving a six-year-old car, and wearing used consignment store clothes. At age 40, we were “closet” millionaires.

I’ll never forget the walk we took that beautiful, sunny day. We lived in a nicely landscaped, well-appointed apartment complex half a block from a neighborhood park. Directly to the west of our community stood hundreds of $500,000 McMansions.

During our entire 20 minute walk, we saw no one else out and about. Where were our neighbors?

I suppose the kids were at school and the adults were at work.

I felt like a bird who had just been set free from the confines of its cage. My husband and I, completely unhindered by debt and financial obligations, had found freedom. Unlike our neighbors, we didn’t need to go to work!

Contrary to popular belief, most millionaire households do not live the extravagant lifestyles that many assume. In fact, a millionaire or two may be living inconspicuously next door to you. The authors of the bestseller, The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy found the top reason for why some people manage to accumulate wealth is that they live below their means. Many millionaires have found that living in a status neighborhood is not only a poor value, but it makes one feel the need to keep buying status objects to keep up with the Joneses.

My Takeaway: Live life your way, not like the Joneses.

—

Two Becomes Three

This dream of mine took ten years to come to fruition, but we had stuck to it and we reached our goal: to be financially-free before starting our family.

We submitted our adoption paperwork and eight months later, while vacationing in Hawaii, we received our daughter’s referral picture.

Since bringing our daughter home from China, we’ve scaled way back on our construction business and work only when we want to. We can afford to be selective in the projects we accept. I hired a bookkeeper to replace me so that I could focus my time, energy and attention on parenting and pursuing my hobbies. Additionally, I’ve learned how to effectively manage our investment portfolio in such a way that this task requires just one or two hours per month of my time.

Our family hasn’t set an alarm clock in years. Whether it be work, parenting or play, we wake with the sun, eager to spend each new day doing whatever we choose. For us, this is financial freedom.

On this blog, I tend to write long posts, but on Twitter, I’m limited to using just 140 characters or less. When I started “tweeting” two months ago, I had no clue how I’d use this tool. 84 tweets later, I find I appreciate the opportunity to share bits and pieces without formatting a new blog post. I also like catching juicy tidbits of information and breaking news from the other twitter users I follow.

Twice, I’ve had the great pleasure of hearing Dave speak. His message resonates with me, deep down in my soul. Generously, Dave offered to share his thoughts with my readers here, about how to find the sweet spot with REAL wealth. His message is timely: As both our physical and economic climates reach crisis levels, Dave offers us a chance to reflect, plenty of hope, and specific pathways for healthy, joyful change. Thank you, Dave!

1) Dave, how do you define “simple prosperity”?

I think of simple prosperity as a social movement, a non-violent revolution similar to the civil rights movement, to replace our excessive lifestyle with a more moderate, sensible, grounded way of life. It’s not about guilt, shame, judgment, or sacrifice, but a strategic, mutually agreeable reduction in our level of consumption and a corresponding increase in our level of contentment. My message in Simple Prosperity is two-fold: it’s not ecologically, geologically, or socially possible to pump so much stuff, so quickly, through the global economy; however, a mindful lifestyle rich in experience, information, efficiency, connection, culture, and human energy can significantly reduce much of our hyperactive production and consumption. We can have twice the satisfaction for half the resources – a bargain!

When we directly meet basic needs like security; connection with nature and with people we respect, self-expression and creativity; meaningful leisure activities, it becomes clear that money and possessions are really an indirect way of meeting needs. For example, how can a money-distracted culture create trust, authenticity, loyalty, inspiration, calmness, tradition, and passion? Frankly, the evidence indicates that the quest for “more” at both the personal and commercial scale often strips these essential qualities away, leaving us borrowing, buying and selling rather than being.

Simple prosperity re-values the ecstasy of time spent in a garden or having a stimulating conversation; the relief and renewal of ideas put to practical use, as when we work to improve our neighborhoods and communities. To “save the planet” as well as ourselves, we’ll need to change far more than light bulbs and grocery sacks; we’ll need to change our value system, creating policies and technologies based on long-term success rather than just short-term gratification. If the cultural direction – the everyday ethic – changes, individuals will follow, en masse.

2) How is simple prosperity different than a lifestyle of frugal deprivation?

Simple prosperity is not about what we give up, but what we get back when we let all the junk go: the distraction, dysfunction, depression, corruption, pollution, doubt, debt, shame, stress, guilt, cruelty, and all the rest. If we actively re-prioritize our personal lives and also participate in getting our culture back on track, we’ll re-locate what I call the “sweet spot” of enough. Enough is perfect, too much results in diminishing returns. For example, when we drink a cup or two of coffee, we have useful energy. But ten cups is way beyond “enough,” and we pay for it in craziness, just as we are paying dearly for “too much” in this year’s economic train wreck.

The lifestyle presented in Simple Prosperity could easily avoid the need to earn and spend half a million dollars over a lifetime, including reduced medical bills, utility bills, legal fees, interest payments, counseling, lawn care, day care, appliance maintenance, and other forms of hired “care” that we can provide ourselves if we make time, and liberate ourselves from a consumer script that’s driving us nuts.

3) What does simple prosperity look like on a day-to-day basis?

In our current way of life, the typical American will spend six months of his life sitting at red lights, eight months opening junk mail, one year searching for misplaced items, two years trying to return calls to people who aren’t there, four years cleaning house, and five years waiting in line – all activities that relate at least in part to our lives as consumers.

When we choose real wealth, we change the way we spend both time and money. We begin choosing things like healthy, great-tasting food; work that challenges and stimulates us; and spiritual connection with a universe that’s infinitely larger than our stock portfolio. Instead of more stuff in our already-stuffed lives, we can have fewer things but better things of higher quality; fewer visits to the doctor and more visits to museums and friends’ houses. More joyful intimacy, more restful sleep, and more brilliantly sunny mornings in campsites on the beach – bacon & eggs sizzling in the skillet and coffee brewing in the pot. Greater use of our hands and minds in creative activities like building a table, knitting a sweater, or harvesting the season’s first juicy, heirloom tomato. These are the things that matter, and we can choose them, if we spend less time, money, and energy being such obedient consumers.

A great example of the social and personal benefits of a new lifestyle already occurred in Michigan from 1930 to 1985, when the Kellogg Company operated with a six-hour day. With two hours more discretionary time, Kellogg employees transformed the lifestyle of Kalamazoo, where many of them lived. Families and neighborhoods benefited from the extra time; schools included curricula about the “arts of living” and parental involvement in schools – such as “room mothers” in the classrooms – increased. Parks, community centers, skating rinks, churches, libraries, and YMCAs became centers of activity. Kellogg workers recall that the balance of their lives shifted from working to living. What to do with their time became more important than what to buy with their money.

4) How can adopting a lifestyle of simple prosperity help us individually and collectively?

We are an extremely socially oriented species, which accounts for our stunning success. Our ever-expanding brains enabled speech and language, and the complex social relationships that made cooperation and group decisions possible. Because of our genetic make-up, it’s hard for individuals to change unless the whole group’s ethic changes. I propose that a joyfully moderate lifestyle become, by consensus, the new norm for “the good life,” as it already has in moderate countries like Holland, Denmark, Costa Rica, and New Zealand.

Historian Arnold Toynbee observed that among thirty or more empire- civilizations, those that survived and thrived followed a Law of Progressive Simplification. The Roman Empire became Italy, where the Renaissance was born. The British Empire is now the far more moderate and exemplary United Kingdom, a world leader in dealing with global warming. The American Empire, too, will mature, in effect, outgrowing the gospel of growth.

I like the analogy of a backpacker when I think about the emerging American lifestyle. The backpacker doesn’t want a lot of junk in her backpack. She wants only items that are ingeniously designed, like a Whisper Lite cookstove, a warm fleece sweater, a good pair of boots that can go the extra miles, and food that’s full of slow-release energy. The backpacker brings along skills she has learned, the stories she can tell, a well-designed tent, maybe a flute or a great book. On her journey, the world is a splash of light and shadow, with mountain peaks in the distance and bighorn sheep standing guard. If we’re smart, the awakening American lifestyle will deliver clarity, a sense of wonder, and great health, as if life itself was an energizing, mind-opening backpacking trip.

5) I’ve heard you encourage your audiences to become “historical super-heroes.” As I recall, you suggested that we curb our consumption so that our grandkids will read about our generation in their history books with reverence. Can you elaborate?

In recent experiments with MRI technology, altruism, generosity, and cooperation register as strongly in the brain’s “pleasure center” as gambling, drugs, shopping, chocolate, or attractive faces. It would feel great to act unselfishly, in the best interests of our grandkids, but our society is focused elsewhere, distracted by situation comedies and constantly morphing car styles.

If we score high in the history books and become super-heroes, it will be because we finally let go of all the junk images, junk food, and junk information, and went after the real wealth. It’s so important that we each do our part to nudge our lifestyle in a more meaningful direction. We need fulfillment rather than just “fun,” engagement with passions rather than just passing the time. We should each ask ourselves this question: If it’s true that our whole life flashes before us when we die, will it hold our interest?

6) Despite the pain this financial crisis has caused, I can’t help but think that it serves as the wake-up call many seemed to need. My hope is that we become a nation of savers and conservationists, not spenders and takers; that we learn to value relationships over material possessions. What are your thoughts about the effect this crisis might have on society?

A culture shift like the one I propose – from an emphasis on material wealth to an abundance of time, relationships, and experiences – has already occurred in cultures such as Japan in the 18th century. Land was in short supply, forest resources were being depleted, and minerals such as gold, silver, and copper were suddenly scarce as well. Japan went from being resource-rich to resource-poor, but its culture adapted by developing a national ethic that centered on moderation and efficiency. An attachment to the material things in life was seen as demeaning, while the advancement of crafts and human knowledge were seen as lofty goals.

In this “culture of contraction,” an emphasis on quality became ingrained in a culture that eventually produced world-class solar cells and Toyota Priuses. Japanese shoguns established strict policies for reforesting. Training and education in aesthetics and ritualistic arts fluorished, resulting in disciplines like fencing, martial arts, the tea ceremony, flower arranging, literature, art, and skillful use of the abacus. The three largest cities in Japan had 1500 bookstores among them, and most people had access to basic education, health care, and the necessities of life, further enriching a culture that required very few resources per unit of happiness.

One of the main purposes of culture is to moderate and restrain individual excess, but our collective identity in 2009 is itself excessive. We’re like a family whose parents do not set clear, healthy guidelines for their children. Anything goes – drugs, unprotected sex, weapons, junk food by the barrel. Our global family desperately needs to set sensible guidelines. For example, we need to retrieve traditional diets that prevent illness and generate wellness. When the basic food groups and recipes of a particular culture are lost in the shuffle, we can’t figure out what we should be eating, with disastrous and financially costly results.

7) How would you describe a sensible economy?

A sweeping culture shift is happening right now, right in our generation. We’re at the tail end of the Industrial Era, moving into an age of restoration, biospirituality, and preservation. The entire industrial civilization is ramping down, just in time to prevent ecological catastrophe. If we’re lucky, we’ll find authentic abundance we can count on, rather than manufactured, prefabricated wealth that literally counts on us.

It’s not the Joneses we strive to keep up with; it’s an all-encompassing system of production and consumption – a way of life that takes away our ability to feed ourselves, entertain ourselves, or even have original thoughts. We’re looking for value in the wrong places. Is it really large houses we crave, or large lives, rich in discretionary time and generosity that we can share with those we love? Is it really expensive, programmed vacations we want, or simply the respect and admiration of our peers, and a sense that life is exciting? When our daily lives are energized with creativity and playfulness, we discover that life is an adventure no matter where we are.

It’s time for a cultural revolution – for consumer disobedience that demands quality over quantity; localization rather than globalization; time affluence rather than the poverty of constant, stressful deadlines; less aggression, more empathy; more respect for public places, including the environment, and less obsession with individual accumulation.

A sensible economy does not take more than it gives. On our watch, the world’s solar income and renewable yield is being consumed at a faster pace every year. This year, ecologists calculate that we’ll consume nature’s “interest” (from fisheries, forests, and farmland, etc.) by the middle of September, then, we’ll continue to draw down nature’s principle, in the process undermining the ecosystems that support us.

8 ) If we continue to reduce our levels of consumption, what do you think will happen to our economy?

We will simply create a different kind of economy, as the Japanese did centuries ago, including a rebirth of craft, amateur art and self-expression, and basic skills of self-reliance. Let’s face it, right now, we are at the mercy of a lifestyle support system that commands our obedience because we don’t even know how to re-light the pilot on our furnaces or spend a solitary hour in the park without being entertained.

Our economy’s primary measurement of “progress” is the Gross Domestic Product, which is very much a toxic loaf of bread. All economic activities are folded into it, whether beneficial or destructive. Crime, family breakdown, loss of leisure time, oil spills, hurricane damage, car accidents, loss of wetlands, legal fees for corruption – all are included in the GDP, and even though the bread is toxic, the superficial fact that it rises is good enough for mainstream economists. We need a new economic yardstick that tells us how we’re really doing, such as the Genuine Progress Indicator developed by the non-profit Redefining Progress, which subtracts the “bads.”

The U.S. GDP might possibly be smaller in the future, but that’s okay, because it could contain greater real wealth overall if all the negatives decrease while positive values like social relationships, renewable energy, bike trails, small farms, preventive health care, and compact communities with town centers increase.

Here are a few more shifts in the way we meet needs that will make our lifestyle more affordable:

* If our collective demand for products falls, so will prices, as we’ve seen recently with gasoline. With cooperation and synergies among social and technical systems, we’ll make better use of finite resources.

* When we design communities to fit human needs rather than corporate or automobile needs, our lifestyle becomes more affordable. Public transit will be far less expensive per capita than America’s current fleet of 250 million cars.

* Getting rid of packaging, glossy green lawns, and food waste also takes a huge chunk out of the collective cost of our lifestyle. We currently spend $900 per capita on advertising, which of course is embedded in the cost of products and services. Less consumption means less advertising as well as less debt. And less debt of course means less interest on the debt.

* Reasonable reductions in meat consumption, air travel, and energy-intensive materials like cement, aluminum, paper, and synthetic chemicals make it seem like we’re all making more money. War must finally be seen as the epitome of waste. Green chemistry, which shortens the steps and softens the environmental cost of making chemicals, in turn lowers the cost of everything manufactured.

* Eliminating subsidies that result in the destruction of ecosystems would save the world about $700 billion annually, about a third of that in the U.S. Rather than drawing down aquifers, letting soil erode, clear-cutting forests, and over-fishing the world’s fish species, we would learn how to be efficient, and how to harvest only a sustainable yield.

* In the new economy, recycling becomes a religion so less costly extraction is required; In a world with different values and priorities, there is less need for crime control, lawsuits, and security systems, because with a higher ratio of social input as well as greater equality, we nurture a population that is less fearful and has less “status anxiety,” a direct stimulant of crime.

These savings arise not because we are “doing without,” but because we’re tuning up our value system, getting rid of waste, and creating a more sustainable way of being in the world. Rather than requiring a hundred thousand hours of work per lifetime, this lifestyle enables each citizen to work less, avoiding the need for half a million dollars of earnings per capita — yielding a better quality of life in which nature is on the rebound, and trust is, too.

The future is waiting. I believe it’s time for us to stop seeing the world as it is, and begin to see it as it should be.

People create blogs for many reasons: to keep in touch with family and friends; to promote a product or service; to make money working from home.

A few full-time bloggers reportedly earn a very healthy income from blogging. Bloggers sell links and space to advertisers and generate referral income from affiliate sales programs. For those that blog as a means of making money, generating traffic is paramount. The higher the number of page views, the higher the opportunity to generate income. A-list bloggers make a lot of money because they receive tens of thousands of hits every day.

Most bloggers, however, earn very little. Don’t be discouraged though, because even with low traffic counts, blogging provides other valuable income opportunities.

Let me explain by way of example: I don’t make much money from the advertisement placed in my right sidebar — and what I do earn is donated to Kiva.org. But nonetheless, because of my blog, interesting and profitable income opportunities present themselves. I’ve appeared on national television, I’ve been profiled in several books, newspapers and magazines, I’ve been encouraged by literary agents and publishers to write a book, I’ve been offered writing and speaking gigs, and I’ve established a coaching business.

Considering today’s tough economic times, blogging should be on your to-do list too because it can open new doors.

help small businesses operated by working, impoverished women in developing countries by pledging my blogging profits to Kiva.org

If you’re a consultant, small business owner, paid professional – or currently unemployed and looking for work — you owe it to your financial future to establish a blog of your own. But how? Here are the lessons I’ve learned:

Blogging 101

1) First, answer the question “Why do I want to blog?”

Blogging takes a lot of time. Most bloggers quit within their first three months. Without a clear purpose, mission or vision statement, you’re likely to become a disillusioned short-term blogger. Realize that it takes plenty of time and work to create and maintain a well-trafficked and respected blog.

2) Research the business of blogging and find mentors

Before launching my blog, I invested three months time researching the business of blogging. I followed successful blogs and those that teach the art of blogging (like Problogger). I joined a writers’ group to share my ideas with other writers, ask for feedback and reciprocate proofreading. Knowing that first impressions are everything, I made sure that I was ready to impress new readers during their first visit.

3) Carefully select your niche and blog title

Pick a topic that you are passionate about. Your passion will be evident in your writing. You will spend a lot of time blogging about it, thinking about it and talking about it. Make sure you love-love-love your blog topic! Now, craft a title that will convey your blog’s topic AND grab your readers attention. Ask for feedback before committing.

4) Have a plan

Before launching my blog, I drafted an outline for my 52 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom series (which I may eventually turn into a book), wrote an About Me page to introduce myself to new readers, and made a list of hundreds of topics I’d like to blog about.

5) Use a self-hosted domain

I started my first blog in July 2007 using Blogger’s free service. Just four months later, my blogspot domain had earned thousands of inbound links and a nice Google page rank. It was discovered by the media and I was invited to appear on national television. My blog’s readership and traffic continued to climb.

In October of 2008, my entire Google account was hacked into and disabled. This means my blog, my gmail account, my calendar… the whole shebang… were gone. Since Blogger is not self-hosted, I had no recourse. I had to start all over again.

Now I pay about $10 a year to register my own domain URL and $99 a year for my hosting service. Take it from me, the expense and hassle is worth it!

6) Schedule blogging time

One of my favorite productivity tools is a digital kitchen timer. As a work-from-home mom of a three-year-old, I find it necessary to structure my writing and blogging time according to her schedule and push to get it done. I write when she’s sleeping, engrossed in Sesame Street or enjoying one-on-one time with her daddy.

Nothing can sideswipe my attention and redirect my efforts quite like the world wide web. The timer keeps me focused, motivated and targeted on the individual task at hand.

Identify your daily, weekly and monthly activities, set a time limit for each one, and start the digital timer in countdown mode. Save your favorite activities for last to serve as your reward for staying on task.

For example, here’s the timed list I strive to keep for writing and blogging activities. (Note: You can also use your digital timer for other tasks: managing personal finances; housecleaning; de-cluttering; exercising; tackling a big project or assignment.) Use your timer to “eat your elephant one bite at a time”.

The digital timer can also serve as a reminder to get up from your desk, stretch your muscles and rest your eyes. I usually multi-task these mini-breaks: I throw a load of laundry in the dryer, do some yoga stretches with my daughter, or take the dog for a walk. About 10 minutes later, I’m sufficiently refreshed to sit at my desk for the next itemized task at hand.

Your headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader. Without a headline or post title that turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not even exist.

But a headline can do more than simply grab attention. A great headline can also communicate a full message to its intended audience, and it absolutely must lure the reader into your body text.

At its essence, a compelling headline must promise some kind of benefit or reward for the reader, in trade for the valuable time it takes to read more.

8) Provide value

Aim to make each post a resource for your readers. Content is king queen. Quality content creates value for the reader, and in turn, value drives long-term traffic. Proofread before you hit the publish button.

9) Seek exposure with a targeted audience

Submit articles to blog carnivals related to your niche. Offer guest posts to other bloggers and include your web page link in your byline. Participate in conversations on related blogs and online forums. Include your link in your email signature.

10) Be a polite blogger

Respond to readers’ questions, comments and emails. Link back to blog carnival hosts. Monitor inbound links, comments and mentions of your blog via Google Alerts, Technorati, SiteMeter and Google Analytics. When you detect a mention of your blog, visit the referring blog and thank the blogger in the comments of the post.

11) Share the link-love

Creating a blog roll and link out to other web sites within your niche. Encourage an online conversation.

12) Make it easy for readers to return to your site

Ask readers to subscribe to your feed and make the process as easy as possible. Then keep in mind that your subscriber list is full of people who have trusted you with their valuable attention.

13) Measure and evaluate your progress

Regular evaluations using analytical measures are important for keeping on track and staying in alignment with your vision. Identify what works, what doesn’t and what you want to accomplish next.

14) Ask for reader feedback

Readers, I welcome questions, comments and suggestions. Please let me know if (and how) I can improve this blog to better assist you in your journey to success, wealth and happiness.